21st Century Community Learning Centers

Research and Resources on Before-and-After-School Programs

The list below describes some key resources on after-school programs. The U.S. Department of Education or Illinois State Board of Education does not endorse the findings or programs that are featured at the web sites. This list is not meant to be exclusive.

All grant proposals for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program must be developed according to guidelines established in the RFP. These resources will help to support your planning.

Websites

Academy for Educational Development – www.afterschool.org
A website designed to share practices that are working in after-school programs. Site enables users to talk and share their own practices.

Benton Foundation Kids Campaign - http://sparkaction.org/
Iinformation for adults about opportunities to improve their community for children.

Choosing a Good Program answers “How can you know a good program when you see it?” Items published by the National PTA on what parents should be looking for in high-quality after-school care.

Financing Help for Out-of-School Programs helps to determine the range of costs that out-of-school time and community school initiatives incur, and develops cost estimates.

California After School Network http://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/publications
Access the California After School Program Quality Self-Assessment Tool, the High School Quality Self-Assessment Rubric, and the (21st CCLC) High School ASSETs program Start-up guide

Council of Chief State School Officers http://www.ccsso.org
The CCSSO's Extended Learning Project provides information on policies, practices, and strategies.

C. S. Mott Foundation - www.mott.org
As a partner of the USDE's 21st CCLC initiative the foundation awards grants in four program areas in the US and selected regions internationally.

Learning Together: The Developing Field of School-Community Issues, a report chronicling the ideas, approaches, and strategies employed by 20 school-community initiatives across the US.

Making After-School Count , a publication on issues of after-school care.

Philosophy, Programs, and Procedures: Pathways Out of Poverty Program provides guidelines and application procedures for funding improved education.

Resource Guide for Planning and Operating After-School Programshttp://www.sedl.org/pubs/fam95/, many resources to support before and after-school, summer and community learning center programs for school-aged children.

Extended Learning Time: Research and Resources - http://financeproject.org/
This resource list was developed by The Finance Project to provide policymakers, school and nonprofit leaders and afterschool providers with a select list of research that supports Expanded Learning and Extended Learning Time (ELT). The resource list includes summaries of each suggested research piece, which includes resources describing recommendations related to policy initiatives and resource allocation. For ease of use, the resources provided are divided into two meaningful sections:

The Federation for Community Schools - http://www.ilcommunityschools.org/
Works to bring together individuals and organizations who support community schools throughout Illinois. Community schools create collaborative partnerships between schools, community based organizations, social service and health care agencies, students and parents to ensure that students have the supports and opportunities they need to excel academically. www.ilcommunityschools.org (312)629-4990

The Finance Project -- www.financeproject.org
Technical assistance resources on financing and sustaining out-of-school time and community school initiatives.

After School and State Education Finance Formulas: A Primer for Statewide After-school Networks identifies challenges and potential opportunities of incorporating funding for after-school programs into state education finance formulas.

The Child Care Partnership Project is an initiative for developing technical assistance materials on public-private partnerships for childcare. Information for state child-care administrators on how to create and sustain effective partnerships.

Starting Points is a series of publications and technical assistance materials designed to promote young children’s readiness for school.

Sustaining 21st Century Community Learning Centers synthesizes interviews with current and former grantees and with state grant administrators about effective sustainability strategies at a program and policy level.

Using Title I to Support Out-of-School Time and Community Initiatives (January 2002, Vol. 2. No. 4): A strategy brief about using Title I funds.

General Services Administration -- www.afterschool.gov
Online resource for parents, teachers, after-school providers, and children to learn about after-school resources from many different government and non-profit agencies.

Federal Funding in Out-of-School Time with Accountability Requirements and Evaluations is a map of the after-school field and detailed federal funding streams for after-school programs.

Out-of-School Time Evaluation Database offers an investigation of the overall picture of evaluation work in the field of out-of-school time.

Out-of-School Time Issues of the Evaluation Exchange: Quarterly newsletter highlighting issues in the out-of-school time arena and featuring articles by evaluators, researchers, and practitioners in the field.

Issues and Opportunities in Out-of-School Time Evaluation briefs highlight current research and evaluation work in the out-of-school time field.

Learning Point Associates --www.learningpt.org
Provides information for after-school programs and other educational issues. Beyond the Bell (third edition) is a valuable resource for program directors and site coordinators. Includes resources and examples of after-school programs.

Specific Resources:

Beyond the Bell: A Toolkit for Creating Effective After-School Programs --http://www.beyondthebell.org/
Provides guidance on critical issues such as management, collaboration, programming, evaluation, and communication. 15 additional resources are included that could prove valuable to after-school planners.

Make It Stick --www.makeitstick.org
Based on the 5 elements of the New Day for Learning vision, this program highlights changes in education that are making a difference.

Maryland Out of School Time Network -- http://www.mdoutofschooltime.org
The mission of the Maryland Out of School Time Network is to build a coalition of youth, families, community members, program providers, educators, funders, and policy makers to expand funding , implement more effective policies, and support increased program quality for youth opportunities in the out of school hours.

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (MCREL) -- http://www.mcrel.org/
A useful compendium of examples of innovative after-school programs.

The National After School Association (NAA) -- www.naaweb.org
NAA is the membership association for professionals who work with children and youth in diverse school and community-based settings to provide a wide variety of extended learning opportunities and care during out-of-school hours.

The National Governors Association -- www.nga.org
Information on schools and after-school programs.

National Network for Child Care (NNCC) -- www.nncc.org
Houses a database of publications and a listserv supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service.

National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL -- http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/welcome.html
Provides training and technical assistance to local and state practitioners to develop high-quality balanced programming that engages students.

Specific Resources:

Quality afterschool Programs Make a Real Difference, a brochure that describes the top five components of successful after-school programs.

Shared Features of High Performing After-School Programs: A follow-up to the TASC Evaluation, a full report on after school.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory -- http://www.nwre..org/learns
LEARNS, a program of one of the U.S. Department of Education-funded regional education laboratories, features downloadable resources, innovative ideas for literacy practices and education-based national service projects.

EXTRA: Quarterly publication used to disseminate information on after-school issues and practices.

LEARNS features downloadable resources, ideas for literacy practices and education-based national service projects.

Partnership for Family Involvement in Education --http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/partnership.html
How to join, a list of members, examples of Partner activities, a comprehensive listing of USDE publications on family and community involvement, including after-school programs.

U.S. Department of Agriculture -
www.fns.usda.gov/cnd
Provides information on the after-school snack program, including eligibility and reimbursement.

U.S. Department of Education (USDE) -- www.ed.gov
Information about national education issues, publications, education statistics, and information about its different offices and programs. For more about after-school programs, visit 21st Century Community Learning Centers at http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/applicant.html.

Specific Resources:

21st Century Community Learning Centers: Providing Quality After-school Learning Opportunities for America’s Families
A publication on aspects of the 21st CCLC and a description of the initial challenges and successes of the program.

Information for Parents and Families:
Ideas, funding, and conferences relevant to family and community involvement in education, including after-school programs.

Keeping Schools Open as Community Learning Centers: Extended Learning in a Safe, Drug-Free Environment Before and After school is designed to help schools and community-based organizations begin their process of keeping neighborhood schools open for children and families.

Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids highlights research evidence on the potential of after-school programs to increase the safety of children, reduce their risk-taking, and improve learning.

When Schools Stay Open Late: The National Evaluation of the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers Program presents the first-year findings of a large and rigorous examination of school-based after-school programs.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- www.hhs.gov
Interesting resources are found in the section on Health and Human Child Care Programs, including the Child Care Development Fund.

Listserves

In addition to websites, the following listservs may be of interest.

EDinfo
Subscribe to this news service listserv with the latest information about the U.S. Department of Education at www.ed.gov/news.html.

After-school listserv
The after-school listserv, supported by the C.S. Mott Foundation, is hosted by the Academy for Educational Development. The listserv is designed to provide a forum for the exchange of information, ideas, resources, and experiences. To subscribe, send a message to ppas@aed.org.

Promising Practices in Afterschool Listserv
The PPAS listserv, is hosted by AED Center for Youth Services. a community of over 2,300 afterschool, out-of-school-time, and extended learning professionals around the globe. The PPAS Listserv is a daily-moderated opportunity for you to communicate with your peers, ask questions and share resources. To subscribe visit http://www.afterschool.org/listserv.